


The Rose Kid

by aerobesk



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2014-11-26
Packaged: 2018-02-26 20:31:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2665397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So what if Ray’s a cocky little graffiti artist, but arrogant in his work, and he starts marking up Austin with his own work and Joel catches the little shit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rose Kid

 Ray was panting slightly by the time he finished, rubbing his sleeve across his face and smearing his cheek with grey as he surveyed his work.  _‘This will get his attention.’_

            The castle rose from the ground, strong at the bottom, but falling apart more and more as it got higher. It was painted on the wall across from the arcade that was about to be shut down, and the building behind it was some old office building of an accounting firm that no one cared about. The wall was made of slightly grimy bricks, made to look even dingier in the light of the lone streetlamp behind him. The grey paint was dripping a little on the crumbling tower to the left, but other than that, he was happy with it. It was one of his larger pieces, and the few hours had been worth it.

            He turned, taking off as the streetlamp flickered for the third time that night and a siren in the distance got closer, leaving behind the crumbling castle for his new ‘friend’ to find.

—-

            Joel looked the painting over. The wall wasn’t the best for street art, but the layers of paint that were underneath the castle helped it show up better. The grey bricks were crumbling, falling down and leaving nothing but scribbled black behind them. The holes in the wall itself had been strategically painted around, giving the mild illusion of some form of courtyard on the other side. The tower to the left was falling down, leaving nothing but a pile of bricks and a lone flag sticking at an awkward angle out of the rubble.

            He knew it was the kid’s work by the rose on the flag. There was a rose on every one of his pieces. At first, even, they were just roses. Sloppy, quickly marked roses that obviously hadn’t been thought about very much.

            The boy had been making one when he’d run into him. Not putting soul into work was one of the only things that could piss off Joel, and the rose kid had managed it. So, of course, what else could he do other than enter the alleyway behind the brunet and get mad at him?

            The kid had freaked out, dropping the can he was holding as he spun around to face the older man. Joel took another step forward, looking at the half finished painting behind him.

            “You’re the rose kid?”

            “Well, I guess if that’s what you call me, sure.”

            “You’re the guy who’s been leaving shitty roses around town for the past month?”

            The guy stiffened, looking at him closer.

            “Shitty? My work is top fucking notch, asshole.”

            “Yeah, sure. That’s why all you do is take ten minutes to spray out a rose and then take off.”

            “What would you know about it anyway?”

            “I know more than you, kid. And I appreciate it more too.”

            “I don’t see you out here with a can, dickweed.”

            Joel moved forward, forcing the kid back towards the wall before looking him over. Short, dark hair, dark eyes, glasses. White hoodie, ripped jeans, sneakers. A black backpack was lying open next to him, open in a way that Joel could just barely see the tips of other cans laying inside it. He couldn’t be older than twenty.

            Joel reached out, snatching one of the cans from the bag before the boy could protest. He shook it, popping the cap and stepping forwards, doing a test stroke to see the color better. Yellow. He could work with that.

            He moved to the spot next to the still dripping rose, spraying a few strokes in quick succession. It didn’t take long before he reached down again, pulling the white can from the boy’s bag and shaking it up, spraying it over the yellow.

            It wasn’t five minutes later before a daisy sat next to the rose on the wall, lines symmetrical, and all together good looking. Joel set the two cans down, brushing his hands together before he moved off, forcibly pushing the rose kid out of the way and into the wall as he walked passed. He ignored the indignant cry from the boy.

            The brunet watched him leave, ignoring the red paint that was now stained on the back of his jacket. “What the hell was that for?”

            “Put a little more effort into your work, kid. It’ll pay off.”

            More effort? He scoffed, about to roll his eyes and grab his stuff before he caught another glimpse of the daisy. More effort…

            He grabbed the red again, shaking it angrily before spraying it on, taking as much time as he needed rather than rushing it. It wasn’t long before he was staring at a finished rose that he had to admit was better quality than his usual work.

            He looked from the rose to the daisy before glancing out the way the man had left.

            ‘More effort, huh? Well then, Daisy, let’s see this pay off.’

—-

            Joel shook himself out of his daydream, remembering the day after, when he’d gone back to inspect the work, and found the finished rose. After that, he’d been seeing more of the kid’s work around town, always in places he wouldn’t have expected, always better and more creative than the last.

            He shifted his backpack onto his shoulder more, moving out from behind the shade of the wall to continue on his way. He’d only been walking for five minutes before something else caught his eye. Or, well, him entirely.

            Maybe he shouldn’t have been looking down while he was walking, but he hadn’t been the only one. While he managed to stay upright, the person he’d run into hadn’t, and he heard the ‘oof’ from the other before he’d even registered who it was.

            The hoodie had been exchanged for a purple one, but it was still obviously the rose kid staring back at him. The brunet smiled, ignoring the offered hand and standing up on his own, brushing himself off.

            “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Daisy.”

            Joel blinked at him. “Daisy?”  
            “Yeah. If I’m rose kid, then you’re Daisy. “

            He could practically feel his eye twitch and the grin the kid was giving him.

            “I have a name. An actual name.”

            “Well, if you tell me your name, I’ll stop calling you Daisy.”

            “Joel.” He’d said it before thinking about it, and it was too late to realize that  _why the hell did he want the kid to know his name?_

            “Ray.”

            “What?”

            “My real name is Ray. Not rose kid.”

            Joel thought it over. It suited him, to say the least.

            “Well then, Ray, I’m glad to see that your work’s been improving. That castle wasn’t bad.”

            Ray’s smiled dropped. “Wasn’t bad? Fuck you, that castle was incredible!”

            It was Joel’s turn to grin, winking as he moved passed and patted the kid on the head. “Keep working on it. You’ll get there someday, kid.”

            He could hear the kid spluttering as he walked away, his grin only being wiped away when the twerp spoke.

            “See you later, Daisy!”

            How the hell was he going to put up with this?


End file.
